1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of portable apparatus adapted to convert a normally hand-held, electrically powered circular saw into a table or bench saw.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has long been a desire in the building trades industry to have a practical, portable device for adapting the common electrically powered hand-held circular saw for use as a table saw. Exemplary of early attempts to achieve this goal is the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,786,500 to Unterfranz wherein a carrying case for a portable hand saw serves to mount the saw for use as a table saw. While useful for certain simple types of cuts, the device disclosed in the Unterfranz patent fails to provide many of the features normally considered essential to the practical operation of a table saw. For example, the Unterfranz device required movement of the workpiece over the upper support surface of the table saw which may result in an inaccurate cut or damage to the saw. The small size of the upper work space (necessitated by the need to keep the carrying case relatively small) normally employed in devices such as illustrated in the Unterfranz patent may even result in injury to the operator should attempts to move a large or awkward workpiece result in "kick-back" of the workpiece by the saw blade.
In an attempt to solve the inadequacies of devices such as illustrated in the Unterfranz patent, efforts have been made to design a more practical table for portable hand saws such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,956,597 to Leitchner. While the Leitchner apparatus solves some of the drawbacks associated with the Unterfranz type designs by employing structure permitting the saw to be moved beneath the upper support surface to avoid the necessity of moving the workpiece, substantial sacrifices in the form of increased cost and complexity of manufacture and maintenance had to be made in order to achieve this result. In particular, the Leitchner device attempts to provide greater accessibility and added support for large, awkward workpieces by use of leg supports and by means of an add on upper support surface extension. While desirable, these added features require the use of six separate leg supports, two of which require height adjusting means in order to accommodate varying floor level. Accordingly, a need has long existed for a portable bench design for converting a hand held electrically powered circular saw for use as a table saw wherein the bench is inexpensive and easily portable and yet is capable of performing all of the tasks normally performed by table saws having slidingly supported circular saws.